Deadly Twister Hits Small Illinois Town

FAIRDALE, Ill. (AP) — A tornado hit the tiny northern Illinois town of Fairdale on Thursday killing one person, injuring seven and sweeping homes off their foundations, as part of a storm system that pummeled a large swath of the country.

A 67-year-old woman was found dead inside her home, DeKalb County coroner Dennis Miller said at a news conference early Friday. Seven others were taken to area hospitals for injuries.

The tornado was part of a storm that tracked across at least five counties, according to the Weather Service.

The severe weather, the region's first widespread bout, forced the cancellation of more than 850 flights at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and dozens of others at the city's Midway International Airport.

The National Weather Service's "enhanced risk" area had stretched from northeast Texas to Michigan, Wisconsin and across the upper Midwest. Forecasters say Philadelphia, Washington and other parts of the Atlantic coast could see the same weather patterns Friday, including Augusta, Georgia, where the Masters golf tournament is taking place through the weekend.

Earlier Thursday, the Davenport, Iowa, office of the Weather Service said it had received multiple reports of tornadoes in Scott and Clinton counties in the far eastern part of the state. At least one tornado had touched down earlier Thursday evening in rural Donahue, about 15 miles north of Davenport. The Weather Service had no reports of injuries from those storms.